The White League, also known as the White Man's League, was a

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

organization started in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

in 1874 to intimidate

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

(emancipated Black former slaves) into not voting and prevent Republican Party political organizing, while also being supported by regional elements of the Democratic Party. Its first chapter was formed in Grant Parish, Louisiana, and neighboring parishes and was made up of many of the Confederate

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

s who had participated in the Colfax massacre in April 1873. Chapters were soon founded in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and other areas of the state.

History

Although sometimes linked to the secret vigilante groups the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

and Knights of the White Camelia, the White League and other paramilitary groups of the later 1870s worked quite differently. They operated openly, solicited coverage from newspapers, and the men's identities were generally known. Similar paramilitary groups were chapters of the Red Shirts, started in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

in 1875 and active also in

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Their explicit political goal was to overthrow the Reconstruction government, and to do so they directed their activities toward intimidation and removal of Northern and African American Republican candidates and officeholders. Made up of well-armed Confederate veterans, they worked to turn Republicans out of office, disrupt their political organizing, and use force to intimidate and terrorize

to keep them from the polls. Backers helped finance purchases of up-to-date arms: Winchester rifles, Colt revolvers, and Prussian needle guns. Nicholas Lemann, ''Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War'', New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007, pp.70–76 The first unit of the White League, founded in 1874, was composed of members of Christopher Columbus Nash's force, mostly Confederate veterans who had participated in the Colfax Massacre. It expressed its purpose to defend a "hereditary civilization and Christianity menaced by a stupid Africanization." In 1874, White League members murdered Julie Hayden, a 17-year-old African American girl who was working as a schoolteacher in Hartsville, Tennessee. In his December 1874

State of the Union The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a Joint session of the United States Congress, joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning ...

address, U.S. President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

expressed disdain over the White League's activities, condemning them for their violence and for violating the civil rights of freedmen: The Coushatta massacre occurred in another Red River Parish: the local White League forced six Republican officeholders to resign and promise to leave the state. The League assassinated the men before they left the parish, together with between five and twenty freedmen (sources differ) who were witnesses. Generally in remote areas, the White League's show of force and outright murders always overcame opposition. They were Confederate veterans, experienced and well armed. Later in 1874, the New Orleans Metropolitan Police, established as a state militia by the Republican governor, attempted to intercept a shipment of arms to the League. The League had entered the city to try to take over state government, in the aftermath of the disputed 1872 gubernatorial election. In the subsequent Battle of Liberty Place on September 14, 1874, 5,000 members of the White League routed 3,500 police and state militia to turn out the Republican governor. They demanded the resignation of Governor

William Pitt Kellogg William Pitt Kellogg (December 8, 1830 – August 10, 1918) was an American lawyer and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who served as the governor of Louisiana from 1873 to 1877 and twice served as a United States Sen ...

in favor of John McEnery, the Democratic candidate. Kellogg refused and the White League briefly fought a battle resulting in 100 casualties. They took over and controlled the State House, City Hall and arsenal for three days, withdrawing just ahead of Federal troops and ships' arriving to reinforce the government. Kellogg had requested aid from U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant; once the troops arrived, he was restored to office. President Grant sent additional U.S. troops within a month in another effort to try to pacify the Red River valley in northern Louisiana. It had been plagued by violence, including the massacres at Colfax in 1873 and

Coushatta The Coushatta () are a Muskogean-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people now living primarily in the United States, U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. When the Coushatta first encountered Europeans, the ...

in 1874. The White League was effective; voting by Republicans decreased and Democrats regained control of the state legislature in 1876.

Legacy

A Battle of Liberty Place Monument was erected in New Orleans in 1891. The monument initially celebrated the Battle of Liberty Place, also known as the Battle of Canal Street, which was a failed coup d'état and riot led by White League paramilitary terrorists in September 1874. In December 2016, the city council voted to remove the monument, and its removal was upheld by a federal appeals court in March 2017.

Citations

References

* {{Authority control Neo-Confederate organizations Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant History of Louisiana Organizations established in 1874 1874 establishments in Louisiana Organizations disestablished in 1876 1876 disestablishments in Louisiana Factions in the Democratic Party (United States) Reconstruction Era Right-wing militant groups Right-wing militia organizations in the United States History of racism in Louisiana Racially motivated violence against African Americans in Louisiana White nationalist terrorism in the United States

History

Legacy

See also

Citations

References